Berlin is staging the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Mauer (wall) demolition today.(Berlintwitterwall) Theme park-like (re) constructions steer tourists through the cold war topography. The “Festival of freedom” and daily fireworks are under way privatising various public spaces. Cavalcades of black idling limousines lined Bernauer street today. Mauer mobs recreate the wall on social media. A spectacle of remembrance.
Amnesia seems to have befallen the public consciousness about another historical anniversary: The Kristallnacht. Today is the date that commemorates the Crystal night pogrom. On the 9 to 10 November 1938 "eliminationism" became sanctioned by the German state. Mob law ruled in the Night of Broken Glass, wrecking 1,400 synagogues (video), homes, shops and human lives. Hordes indulged in an orgy of destruction, destroying sacred places, demolishing shops and homes leading to the final 'assault on humanity': the holocaust.
Today the 'death strip' is walled in acoustic assault from mega building projects, the new conflict scape. Howling chainsaws eradicate the trees as obstacles to lucrative real estate. Broken party glass litter the streets and powerful fireworks detonations pollute and fill the dark sky with disoriented birds.Meanwhile walls are being constructed around the world.
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